A week or so ago as I was cleaning up I encountered my usual fall “crop” of dried bean pods. Every year some are just left out there and I always consider them to be one of my gifts of procrastination. They can be hulled and brought in. It’s kind of a fun activity and the kids enjoy it too!
Here we have Kentucky pole beans just as their ready to eat!
And here we have the dried out, worn out looking remnants of the season. I think that most of us find these! It can’t just be me! I take them out and let them dry for another week or so in the air.
Same story with my scarlet runner beans. I grow them as an ornamental, but I’ve read that they are eaten in Central America, so they can be considered edible. They are lovely growing on a fence, trellis or even a telephone pole and hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to them. 
These are truly finished for the season!
Coming out of the shell…
And full of color! The kids love to play with these. The last few years I’ve had much more than I’d ever need for the following year. They make pretty decorations in a cup or bowl during the winter.
After their dry (about a week or so) I place them in a labeled envelope and store them in a cool dry place until next spring. One important note is that you need to stick with heirloom varieties. Hybrid beans won’t produce when planted. Don’t try this with beans harvested from a big box store plant. You’ll likely be wasting time.
Whew, okay, maybe I’m back! Not a bad post for someone who’s struggling with blogger’s block!
Enjoy Everything!
Michele
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The Salem Garden 
We love beans in our house. We had 4 varieties this year, including pole beans. For next year I will make things more vertical like you have with that cool looking trellis. This was the first year we collected seeds for next year.
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HI there! Our space is tight so we do trellis a lot. I love those metal trellises, I found them in my hometown in Pennsylvania several years ago so they make me smile. Thanks for visiting The Salem Garden! I love your blog and look forward to following! Michele
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It’s sometimes difficult to blog about normal things when there are so many tradegies around us… but blogging is a release, for ourselves and those reading, a little bit of normality when lives are upside down or sometimes a welcome distraction.
The beans are so pretty and could almost belong to Jack & the beanstalk! My beans have done spectacularly poorly this year 🙂
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Yes, it is PJ… so I”m going to try to be a good distraction for whomever needs one, including me, lol! I’m sorry your beans didn’t do well, probably the rain? I hope it’s much better next year!
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lovely colors. We don;t have any leftovers, giggle. We only grow bush beans though Much easier to pick every last one xo
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